| Battle of Issus | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Wars of Alexander the Great | |||||||||
 Alexander battling Darius at the Battle of Issus (Naples National Archaeological Museum) | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Achaemenid Empire | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
Total: c. 37,000
|
Total: 50,000–100,000[1] (modern estimates) Total: 250,000–600,000 (ancient sources) | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
4,952 casualties[6][7] 150 killed 4,500 wounded 302 missing | ~20,000-40,000 casualties[7] | ||||||||
  Issus Location of the Battle of Issus  Issus Issus (Turkey) | |||||||||
820miles
The Battle of Issus (also Issos) occurred in southern Anatolia, on 5 November 333 BC between the Hellenic League led by Alexander the Great and the Achaemenid Empire, led by Darius III. It was the second great battle of Alexander's conquest of Asia, and the first encounter between Darius III and Alexander the Great. The battle resulted in the Macedonian troops defeating the Persian forces.
After the Hellenic League soundly defeated the Persian satraps of Asia Minor (led by Greek mercenary Memnon of Rhodes) at the Battle of the Granicus, Darius took personal command of his army. He gathered reinforcements and proceeded to lead his men in a surprise march behind the Hellenic advance, in order to cut off their line of supply. Alexander was forced to countermarch, and the stage was set for the battle near the mouth of the Pinarus River and the town of Issus.
- ^ Clark, Jessica H.; Turner, Brian (2017). Brill’s Companion to Military Defeat in Ancient Mediterranean Society. BRILL. p. 78. ISBN 9789004355774. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
- ^ "pothos.org - Major Battles". Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
- ^ Moerbeek (1997).[page needed]
- ^ Encyclopedia Iranica ARMENIA AND IRAN ii. The pre-Islamic period Archived 2018-12-10 at the Wayback Machine:
At the battle of Issus in 333, the Armenian contingent is said to have numbered 40,000 infantry and 7000 cavalry
- ^ Welman.
- ^ Curtius Rufus also tells that, except for about 4,500 wounded, 150 Macedonians were killed in action, and 302 were missing. This means that the army had lost about one tenth of its strength.
- ^ a b Barry Potter (September 30, 2018). "Battle of Gaugamela: Alexander Versus Darius". HistoryNet. Retrieved August 18, 2019.
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